Preliminaries

After the five days were over, the second round was officially over. Everyone who had managed to make it through the Forest of Death gathered in the center of the tower.

They were all in a giant arena. Naruto looked around he spotted those who had managed to pass the second stage.

The teams that had passed aside from his team were the teams from Konoha. Team 10, Team 9, Team 8 have passed. Kabuto's team had also made it. The Suna team had passed as well as the Kumo team.

Behind and on either side of Hiruzen stood Anko and Ibiki along with all of the Jonin-senseis whose teams had made it, along with several other Chunin and Jonin who were here to witness the event.

'20 genins managed to pass? Maybe Ibiki was right about these batch of genins being something else' Anko thought while looking at the Genin teams. She laid her eyes on Naruto and smiled at him.

Because of him sealing up her curse seal with the Dual Layered Evil Sealing Method, Anko felt extremely grateful for him. She gave him multiple big fat kisses on the blonde's cheek as a sign of how grateful she was.

Anko snickered, remembering how flustered and red the blonde became after she did what she did. That image will be remaining in her head rent free forever.

"Looks like your team made it, Kakashi. They didn't do too bad, or perhaps they got lucky. But from here on out it's all about skill, and with my team here yours is out of luck." Guy said before giving a toothy grin at his eternal rival Kakashi.

"You said something, Guy?" Kakashi asked nonchalantly while flipping a page of his Icha Icha novel.

"Oooh! Kakashi that attitude of yours is so hip and it gets on my nerves!" Gai shouted and formed a fist in front of his face as fire seemingly ignited in his eyes.

Kakashi ignored him as he looked down at the stadium floor. He smiled proudly under his mask when he looked at his Genin team.

Karui looked at Naruto and raised an eyebrow. The blonde and his teammates looked relatively unharmed compared to the rest of the Genin. Even she had some small cuts on her arm and cheek.

Meanwhile, Omoi was sweating profusely. 'Oh Sage, I hope I don't fight someone from Konoha. What if I accidentally kill them? My actions will start the Fourth Great Ninja War! Lord Raikage is gonna kill me for being so stupid! I'm gonna get publicly hanged—'

"Gak!!!" Omoi grunted as he was elbowed in the gut by his teammate Karui who glared at him.

"You're overthinking again aren't you? Snap out of it asshole, the Hokage's gonna start talking." Karui muttered while maintaining her menacing glare. Omoi had chills sent down his spine as he laughed nervously while scratching the back of his head.

"To everyone who has made it this far, I would like to congratulate you on passing the second stage of the Chunin Exams. Now I suggest all of you listen carefully to Lord Hokage who will be explaining the third test!" Anko ordered before stepping back to let Hiruzen take the stage.

Everyone stood straighter as he stepped forward and looked at them. "Before I explain the third test, there is something I would like all of you to know. And that is the true reason for this exam."

Many of the genin perked up at this, wondering what he was talking about. Shikamaru yawned and pretended he was listening to the Hokage's explanation.

Hiruzen finished explaining the real reason the Chunin exams are held, his words surprised even the most knowledgeable genin, except for Sakura, Satsuki, Naruto and Shikamaru who got this info from their jonin senseis.

Hiruzen sweat dropped as he looked at Naruto who was standing behind Satsuki and repeatedly running his hands through her soft black hair. The Uchiha was blushing vividly while trying not to punch the blonde in the balls in front of everyone, especially the Hokage.

Hiruzen wanted to continue but Hayate appeared in front of him. "Lord Third, would you please let me explain this *Cough* to the genin?" He asked him.

The old Hokage nodded and took a step back, letting Hayate take the stage. Hayate turned around and looked at the Genin.

"Welcome kids, my name is *Cough!* Hayate Gekkou and I'm the proctor for the *Cough! Cough!Cough!!!* third stage of the Chunin exams." Hayate spoke, coughing so much that many of the genin wondered if he was fit for duty.

"Unfortunately it seems that the first and second stages of the Chunin Exams were too easy and we now have too many candidates. Because of this, we will be holding preliminary matches."

Hayate coughed and raised his hand before anyone could ask any questions. "The reason why you all can't continue is because the first two exams seem to have been too easy this year, we just have too many people"

" There will be many Daimyos and other important people coming to this exam, so we need to make sure that only the best of the best are in it." Hayate explained, curing everyone's confusion about this sudden change.

'So basically the cream of the crop.' Shikamaru thought while hoping for an easy fight.

"*Cough!* Before we begin I will explain the rules. As the referee I expect you to follow everything I say. *Cough!* Fuck...." Hayate whispered out a curse as he looked at the blood he coughed out on his hand. He quickly wiped it away.

"If I command you to stop I expect you do it, failure to do so will result in your immediate extermination from the exams. Fights will be done one on one and the winner of the fight will progress to the next round." Hayate coughed before continuing.

"Your opponents will be chosen at random and the match will end when an opponent dies, loses consciousness or gives up. If I see that a match is unable to continue I will also end the match. Any questions?"

No one asked anything. Hayate scratched his head before he continued speaking. "Alright, if anyone wants to quit right now here's your chance." Hayate added. Kabuto looked at his 'Jonin' sensei(who is really Orochimaru in disguise) only to see the man shake his head.

Kabuto frowned, not quite sure why Orochimaru wanted him to stay, but it was something he would do nonetheless.

Seeing that no one was going to back down, Hayate decided to start the match. Everyone turned their attention to the screen as it began to run through a list of names before stopping on two of them.

'Satsuki Uchiha vs Yoroi Akadō'

"Good luck then." Naruto smiled at Satsuki as they fist bumped each other. Sakura nodded at Satsuki who nodded back at her. Naruto and the other genin walked up the stairs, leaving her with his opponent.

She watched her opponent move towards the other end of the arena. Yoroi's appearance was greatly concealed by the mask he wore around his mouth that hung to around his neck, sunglasses that obscured his eyes and forehead protector which he wore like a bandanna.

He also wore what appears to be the standard attire of his team consisting of a high-collared, sleeveless, purple shirt with a short-sleeved, white one underneath, a simple obi around his waist, purple pants, blue sandals and purple fingerless gloves.

"I hope you're ready, Uchiha. Powerful clan or not, you're going to lose here." Yoroi stated before entering a fighting stance. Satsuki only narrowed her black eyes at him.

"Now, please begin!" Hayate declared as he moved away from the two Shinobi, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire.

As soon as the fight started, Yoroi went through several hand seals while he charged at Satsuki. His hands glowed light blue.

Satsuki calmly entered her fighting stance, deciding to avoid Yoroi's weird attack since she did not know anything about it.

When Yoroi got close to Satsuki, he raised his clenched right fist and attempted to punch her however Satsuki dodged it easily.

She quickly broke through his guard with pure speed and punched him several times in the gut, making Yoroi stagger back while coughing a little.

*BAAAM!!!*

Yoroi gasped as he was kicked in the head by Satsuki. He tumbled on the ground violently as he spat out blood onto his mask. He glared at the Uchiha under his sunglasses.

His hands began to glow again as he got up and attempted to strike Satsuki with his punches. Satsuki was dodging all of them casually, constantly sparring with Kakashi with her teammates and with Hayate for a month really did wonders for her.

Satsuki blocked the left fist coming at her, and then quickly crouched under the glowing hand. When the hand grazed over her hair a little she felt a slight drain on her chakra reserves.

'So that's why he's so adamant in getting me with those hands, they drain chakra.' Satsuki thought before she did a low sweeping kick while in her crouching position.

She then kicked the falling Yoroi in the jaw with another kick, sending him flying back and tumbling violently on the ground.

Satsuki stood up and cracked her knuckles. Karui snorted and crossed her arms while watching the fight. "That Yoroi guy's a one trick pony, the Uchiha's got this in the bag for sure." She grumbled to herself.

"Look closely or you'll miss something! Fool! Ya fool!"

Karui groaned as she looked at the man standing behind her. That man was Killer Bee, the Hachibi Jinchuriki, the Guardian of Kumogakure and also her and Omoi's sensei.

Bee has dark skin and a muscular build, as well as blonde hair and a goatee. On his right shoulder, he has a tattoo of the kanji for 'iron' which is the Iron Armour Seal that was used to seal the Hachibi into him, and on his left cheek, he has a tattoo of a bull's horn. His top lip also has a slightly darker hue than his bottom one.

Bee wears oval-shaped sunglasses and a white-coloured forehead protector signifying his affiliation with Kumogakure.

He also has his village's standard one-strap-over-one-shoulder flak jacket, and a long, red rope belt tied around his waist, the standard Kumo hand and shin guards, shinobi sandals, and a white scarf around his neck. The trim on Bee's flak jacket is white and he carries seven swords on his back.

"Yo! Listen closely Karui! As a kunoichi! You must always see underneath the underneath! Or else you'll be six feet deep!" Bee rapped out.

Bee has a special way of expressing his pride through song, more specifically using rap and tends to use 'Fool! Ya Fool!' when referring or speaking to others.

He will even write his rhymes in the middle of a fight, or during an important meeting, even if they are no good, which is usually the case. He gets his rapping ideas from his opponents in battle.

This sometimes causes the people around him to become greatly annoyed by him. B thinks very highly of his rapping skills and doesn't respect anyone who would make fun of rap or his lyrics.

"Look closely Karui! What do you see!" Bee asked her. Karui looked back at Satsuki and saw her weaving hand seals.

She widened her eyes, realizing that she was weaving the same hand seals Yoroi weaved at the start of the fight.

"I got it! She has the Sharingan activated! But she's disguising it with Genjutsu!"

"Don't fret cuz you're correct!"

To be continued.....